The American lifestyle experienced gradual change with the coming of the industrial revolution. Before industrial revolution took shape in the American world, they mostly practiced farming while most of the rest were artisans. Industrial revolution brought about a great transitional point in the lifestyle of the people in the United States. before industrial revolution, the united states was a subsistence oriented nation but this was deemed to change to a major technological nation in addition to socioeconomic modifications which would follow the industrial revolution. The essay that follows intends to show the impact of the industrial revolution to the western nations and how it was a key revolutionary moment to the western society. Industrial revolution indeed marked an important transitional point in the history of the western nations. The essay will go ahead to give a detailed account of the history of industrial revolution, an assessment of how the western world was before and after industrial revolution to bring out a clear picture of why industrial revolution truly represents a revolutionary period in the western people’s lives.
The 1700’s marked the period which industrial revolution was experienced in Great Britain. At this time, the Americans had little or no idea of industrialization and most of them were farmers. The Americans were not industrialized such that nearly all their manufactured products were imported from Great Britain. The united States was transformed into an industrial power by the early American Industrial Revolution. When industrialization was still taking root in the United States, the people were still doubling the British methods of industrialization but after some time, the Americans started devising their own better and efficient methods of manufacturing goods at a faster rate and more cheaply as compared to the British methods. With time, the Americans developed their innovative factories. At the same time they made their new tools and appliances. America ended up being the most developed nation even though industrial revolution originated from Britain. Before the Americans had a clue about industrial revolution they were just farmers who relied on their skills to develop the tools which they needed to use in their farms. Trading was done on local basis because the traders could not meet the expense of transporting manufactured goods to other places. The one thing that made America able to become wealthy after a small period of knowing about industrial revolution is the fact that America possessed rich deposits of resources such as fertile lands, iron ore, wide expanses of interconnected water channels that enabled easy transportation of heavy and bulky goods from one place to another (Wallace 1978, 67)
Industrial revolution in Britain was set in motion when machines were introduced in the textile industry which was near the beginning of the 18th century. Spinning machines made the tailoring of clothes easier, however, by the 19th century factories installed with machines replaced the cottage industries as inventions made weaving much easier because threads could now be produced faster. Most of the early factories in Britain used water to generate power so that many factories were situated near close water bodies. With time, more inventions were made and the steam engines were used in place of water. The steam engines were now used to provide power in the factories. Production of coal that was used as fuel to turn the water into steam also increased and with time industrialists in Britain took on the use of the steam engines in their factories because they were a lot more efficient. In addition to the use of coal and steam engines, another innovation was also set up following the series of innovations that were coming forth in the 18th century. Such an innovation occurred in Britain where there was the “iron revolution” which made it easier for the British to generate iron that was of authentic which would later on become a very vital commodity in terms of raw material for the industrial revolution. Iron would later on be used for the construction of things such as railways, machines and permanent buildings.
The Americans were unsure whether they wanted to be as industrially developed as the Britain’s. American revolution which lasted from 1775-1781 coincidentally ran at the same period when industrial revolution was being marked in Britain. The United States was just established with the 13 states but the problem at this time that faced industrialization in America is the fact that the influential leaders of the just established nation still had many disagreements when it came to critical matters. A few of the founding fathers looked at the situation in developing Britain and visualized it as trouble if it was introduced in the Americans lives. They were in doubt as to whether they should promote the agricultural system that was present in America or go on and promote industrialization just as the Britain’s were doing it. The Americans rather feared this and took it as a threat to the complete transformation of the lifestyle that was currently being used by the Americans. Thomas Jefferson who was the president of America for 8 years from 1801 preferred to have America as an agricultural country. What he and many Americans feared was that the introduction of industrialization in America that later leads to urbanization would end up resulting to poor living conditions and wretched lives for the Americans. He preferred that the Americans import manufactured goods from Britain while they provide raw materials for the factories in Britain. This situation changed with time and now America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Britain which was the first to have industrialization was outdone by America and this can be evidenced by the current economical situation in the two countries today (Brezina 2005, 78).
Alexander Hamilton who preferred to have the presence of industries in America submitted a report to the American congress proposing for the need of America taking on an industrial approach. In his report he wrote “in countries where there is great private wealth, much may be effected by the voluntary contributions of patriotic individuals; but in a community situated like that of the united states, the public purse must supply the deficiency of private resource. In what can it be so useful, as in prompting and improving the efforts of the industry?” Hamilton thought that America should have its industries to be liberated from the dependence they had on foreign products. In his opinion, the creation of industries that would substitute the handicraft system would ensure that the products resulting from American industries would be able to compete on the same international levels as the nations like Britain were doing. This would result to creation of a wide range of occupations from which Americans could choose from. Even though the population in America at that time was low, he contemplated that the women and children could also have a chance at working in the industries, in addition to this, the long run effect of the success created by these companies would end up attracting labor from other regions such as immigrants who would work in the industries plus the farms. The overall effect of this would be the growth of a larger population which would consume the goods produced in the factories which would lead to creation of profits thus leading to economic development. At the time that Hamilton proposed to congress, they did not pay heed to it but eventually even Jefferson saw the need to have some industries in America. After the need to have industries in America, industries were made
The British were getting insecure with their industrial development and were jealously guarding it. The British government had even come up with a law that banned the exportation of industrial machines and to top it all off they had also forbidden the manufacturing professionals from getting out of the country. Despite these restrictions the Americans still wanted to get some insight on how the British inventions operated. To be able to obtain this information, the Americans had to get the engineers from Britain so that they could know how the industrial system in Britain was. They therefore took it upon themselves to send invitations to the same engineers who had been forbidden from leaving Britain and some of the Americans even went to the extent of offering money to the people who had the latest information on the technological advancements in Britain. Despite the laws, many workers were able to maneuver the laws in Britain and got out of the country and migrated to the united states. in 1989, an experienced worker who was working for a cotton mill in Britain called Samuel Slater devised a plan that enabled him to maneuver the laws and he was able to land in the united states with the knowledge of building a spinning frame. During the eight year period that Slater had been working in the cotton mill, he gained knowledge of how a spinning frame could be built. With this in mind and the fact that Americans needed skilled men from Britain with the latest knowledge on the British inventions, Slater decided to move to America. When he was leaving Britain, he maid up a to the British official and told them that he practiced farming so that they could not withhold him from going top America. When he arrived in Rhode Island he found potential people who were ready to help him construct a mill. Consequently, Slater was able to complete his mill in 1790 that qualified to be the first operating textile mill present in US. He later on made another mill in Rhode Island after three years (Bagley 2003, 103).
Industrial revolution marked a period that saw to the transformation of the U.S from a subsistence nation to a technologically developed country with socioeconomic modifications to the former modes of trading. These changes took root in the country and up to date, these changes continue to describe the political and social environment of the nation once industrial revolution settled in America, the country took a whole new approach. Before the revolution America was a country that practiced farming where seasons guided them on the kind of activities they ought to be engaging in. after industrialization, America became a different country with the building of railway lines, textile mills and communications lines developed rapidly. Since America had plenty of hidden resources, industrialization moved rapidly and it became the wealthiest nation by bypassing Britain even though Britain had been the first to encounter industrial revolution (Olson 2002, 173).
Enough evidence can be developed from the American revolution that indeed the American revolution brought about changes in the make up of the American country before revolution was introduced. The industrialization brought about three important aspects that continue to prevail in the country up to day. Transportation channels were enlarged. This can be evidenced by the presence of railway lines that were made possible by the presence of iron deposits in the country. The other commodity that was well developed is electricity that was harnessed. The last development that was made by the Americans is the industrial processes were improved and as a result, production of commodities that would satisfy the Americans in both quantity and quality was accelerated. Inventors that were able to bring about industrial revolution in America did not cease inventing. They continued the inventions through the 19th and at the beginning of the 19th century. Some inventions were made by the American inventors that continue4 to provide evidence of the prominence of the American inventors. An example of commodities that still exists from those inventions includes the light bulb which was invented by Thomas Edison. The light bulb continues to be in use up to date though small and minor modifications have been made to it. The other invention that was created was that of ford which is still in use even up to date (Hillstrom and Hillstrom 2007, 152)
It cannot be disputed that indeed the world as a whole changed from the industrial revolution that originated from Britain and later on spread to America where it was utilized and contributed to making America a rich nation that it is today. as opposed to the pre-revolution days when the re was little geographic ground covered due to lack of transportation such that an individual would get born live and die in a certain locality without having ever moved from that region to another. However, industrial revolution brought changes to almost everything. The rural places that were changed and became cities. Barter trade stopped existing and was replaced with money which enabled transactions to be carried out more easily. The local markets that existed changed to become national in addition to international markets. This lead to formation of economic competition which grew with time and intensified the more inventions and international markets continued existing. From these economic competitions came the formation of world powers that belonged to the developed countries because they could be able to own large military resources. These industrialized countries now control the global politics and from their perspective they have set the course through which world affairs go through.
Bibliography
Bagley, Katie. The Early American Industrial Revolution, 1793-1850. Minnesota: Capstone press, 2003
Brezina, Corona. The Industrial Revolution in America: A Primary Source History of America’s Transformation Into An Industrial Society. New York: Rosen Publishing Group,2005
Hillstrom, Kevin and Hillstrom, Collier. The Industrial Revolution in America. California: Library of Congress Cataloging, 2007
Olson, Stuart. Encyclopedia of the industrial revolution in America. Westport CT: Greenwood publishing group, 2002.
Wallace, Anthony. Rockdale: The Growth of an American Village in the Early Industrial Revolution. New York: Library of Congress Cataloging,1978